Survey Data Collection and the Covid-19 Pandemic (SDCCP)

Survey data are a basis for evidence-based decisions of political actors and for social science research. During the Covid-19 pandemic, a multitude of social science surveys have been conducted. Yet, there is a surprising lack of a systematic evaluation of this data basis for Germany. The few existing studies on this topic hint toward the fact that survey practitioners departed from established design decision due to the pandemic (e.g., face-to-face mode). Consequently, the data quality of survey that were conducted as quick reaction on the pandemic remains unclear and, thus, it is an open question on which basis important political decisions and scientific recommendations were/are made. Biased data can simply result in biased decisions and recommendations. The present project aims at closing this research gap by systematically collecting data on social science surveys that were conducted during or with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic. These surveys will be systematically classified based on their design characteristics and evaluated with respect to their data quality.